History and the Early English Novel: Matters of Fact from Bacon to Defoe

Beschreibung

Beschreibung

Exploration of the meaning of 'history' and its relevance for the origins of the modern English novel.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; 1. Baconian historiography: the contours of historical discourse in seventeenth-century England; 2. 'Idle trash' or 'Reliques of something true'? the fate of Brute and Arthur and the power of tradition; 3. The History of Myddle: memory, history, and power; 4. Lifewriting and historiography, fiction and fact: Baxter, Clarendon, and Hutchingson on the English civil war; 5. The secret history of the last Stuart kings; 6. 'Knowing strange things': the historical discourse in the century before Robinson Crusoe; 7. 'History' before Defoe: Nashe, Deloney, Behn, Manley; 8. Defoe's historical practice: from 'The Ages Humble Servant' to Major Alexander Ramkins; 9. 'Facts that are form'd to touch the mind': Defoe's narratives as forms of historical discourse; 10. From history to the novel: the reception of Defoe; Conclusion; Index.

Pressestimmen

'His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of what we now call the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century.' http://www.readysteadybook.com/blog.aspx